Program to help Nova Scotians quit smoking sees overwhelming interest

The Lung Association of Nova Scotia’s QuitNS program currently has 400 participants — and more than 250 people are waitlisted

CITYnews halifax \ Chris Stoodley

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A new, “first-of-its-kind” program to help people quit smoking in Nova Scotia has seen overwhelming success with hundreds of people currently participating and hundreds more on a waitlist.

Earlier in January, the Lung Association of Nova Scotia (LANS) launched QuitNS. It’s a free online program that aims to help people quit smoking with information and resources including nicotine replacement therapy patches as well as gum or lozenges.

“We’ve always known there’s a need,” says the LANS’ president and CEO Robert MacDonald. “We didn’t know the significance of the need until this program came out.”

The LANS launched the program during National Non-Smoking Week which ran from Jan. 16 to 22 this year — and the association has already been overwhelmed with responses.

MacDonald told CityNews Halifax the program has already hit its 400-participant mark. On top of that, more than 250 people are currently waitlisted for the program.

At the moment, the LANS is looking at other options to see if it can get more resources to increase the number of people who can participate.

“We’re aware of the need and we want to help the system to ensure we help those that want to quit,” he says. “We know that smokers, 80 to 90 per cent of them, want to quit smoking but they need that little bit of help, and hopefully that’s what we’re providing to these folks.”

Statistics Canada reports that in 2020, more than 13 per cent of Nova Scotians older than 12 were daily or occasional smokers.

MacDonald says the number of people smoking in Nova Scotia has generally plateaued over the past decade, but new forms of smoking tobacco — such as vaping — have grown in popularity in recent years.

According to the LANS, nearly 37 per cent of all students in grades 7 to 12 report having “ever tried” an e-cigarette in Nova Scotia. That’s compared to nearly 23 per cent of Canadian students in the same grades.

In grades 10 to 12, 49 per cent of Nova Scotia students have tried an e-cigarette at least once.

Moreover, roughly 21 per cent of Nova Scotia students in grades 7 to 12 have used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days compared to an average of 10 per cent in Canada.

Exposure to nicotine can have negative impacts on children. Some effects include altering brain development, permanently lowering impulse control and affecting functions like memory, learning as well as attention.

Over the past few years, parts of Nova Scotia have implemented new methods to deter people from smoking such as a smoking ban in the Halifax area.

“The province has done an excellent job on rules and regulations, prevention,” MacDonald says. “But now, we need to focus — when it comes to vaping — on cessation and helping those that are maybe becoming addicted to vaping wean themselves off that, as well, so that they’re just breathing good quality Maritime air.”

While QuitNS is currently full of participants, the LANS says people should “stay tuned” and continue checking its website.

The program is eligible for Nova Scotia residents who 18 or older, currently smoking cigarettes and have a mailing address within the province. Moreover, the potential participant must be willing to make an attempt to quit within 30 days of enrolling in the program.